Peculiar behavior of sprintf()

Projects Programming
1

(Using Firefox I couldn't see the New Topic button for Programming Questions forum only. I could see in other fora. For this reason I am using ?Edge? at the moment. )

#include <Wire.h>
#include "LiquidCrystal_I2C.h"

#define I2C_ADDR 0x3F  //Define I2C Address where the PCF8574A is ...  Nano: 0x27  Uno: 0x3F
#define BACKLIGHT_PIN 3
#define En_pin 2
#define Rw_pin 1
#define Rs_pin 0
#define D4_pin 4
#define D5_pin 5
#define D6_pin 6
#define D7_pin 7

//Initialise the serialLCD
LiquidCrystal_I2C lcd(I2C_ADDR, En_pin,Rw_pin,Rs_pin,D4_pin,D5_pin,D6_pin,D7_pin);

typedef struct moving {unsigned long line_nr; char motor_name[10]; long nr_steps; unsigned int min_speed; unsigned int max_speed; float accel; float decel;};
#define NUMBER_OF_RECS 4
moving move_rec[NUMBER_OF_RECS]={
  {1, "M1", 10, 200000, 2000000, 0.97, 0.97},
  {2, "Stop", 0,0,0,0,0},
};

void setup() {
  lcd.begin(20, 4);
  lcd.setBacklightPin(BACKLIGHT_PIN,POSITIVE);
  lcd.setBacklight(HIGH);
}

void loop() {
  char buffer[40];
  lcd.clear();
  lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
  sprintf(buffer, "%s TEXT %dX", move_rec[0].motor_name, move_rec[0].line_nr);  // NOTE_1
  lcd.print(buffer);
  lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
  sprintf(buffer, "%d TEXT %sX", move_rec[0].line_nr, move_rec[0].motor_name);  // NOTE_2
  lcd.print(buffer);
  
  while (true){
    // stay forever
  }
}

In line marked NOTE_! I get "M1 TEXT 1X"

In line marked NOTE_" I get "1 TEXT X" ... M1 does not show up.

I cant figure out why.

Thanks
Martins

2

move_rec[0].line_nr is an unsigned long, but you are telling sprintf to print an int. You need to use %lu to print it as unsigned long. If the format does not match the data you pass, all following arguments will be mis-interpreted, as the sprintf will not parse the arguments correctly.

3

Thank you.

Indeed %lu works.

In aeronautics this is called tunnel vision. The more we look the less we see.

Thanks
Martins